Haritha Keralam: From barren land to lustrous green

Kollam: The Haritha Keralam  mission  has come as a boon to the farmers to turn their barren paddy lands  into fertile fields which will help the state attain  self-sufficiency in food production. The Thazhava panchayt in Karunagapally  has initiated an integral paddy development project to revive paddy cultivation in 1,000 acres of Thazhava –Thodiyoor–Vattakkayal padasekharam  at an estimated cost  of '70 lakh. The panchayat has taken on lease the fields owned by 100 individuals to implement the project and formed a padasekhara samithi  with  panchayat president S. Sreelatha as the president and Mr  K.K. Krishnakumar, a panchayat member, as convener. The panchayat  will also supply the paddy seeds and fertilisers   from its annual plan fund.

The fields  that have  remained barren for over ten years are  part of the erstwhile Onattukara, a feudal state in medieval Travancore.  The area that was once famous for its agrarian culture now spans across the taluks of Mavelikkara, Karthikapally, Chenganur in  Alappuzha district and Karunagapally in  Kollam district.    Known as Vattakkayal padasekharam, the fields span between Pavumba to Thodiyoor. They were permanently inundated with the water from Pallikkalar river making cultivation impossible.  An artificial canal constructed in the middle of the fields carried water to the river. Several attempts to make the land cultivable failed  as the bunds along the sides of the canal, which prevents river water from entering the fields, burst due to excessive water pressure washing out the saplings.

“The farmers were put into trouble by the bunds that line the artificial canal that channels water out to the river. Water flows back to the fields due to the bursting of the  bunds. To make  cultivation possible, we designed a master plan,” Mr R. Ambilikuttan, former panchayat president and ward member  of  Thazhava grama panchayat, told DC.    After collecting information from the traditional farmers on the techniques of farming in the area, the panchayat sourced the required funds from the  Haritha Keralam mission, grama panchayat  and the local MLA  development fund.

According to the action plan, special arrangements like in the ‘Kuttanad’ farming model, where land lies below sea level,  were made to tackle the issue of bunds and flooding. The arrangement includes strengthening  the bunds on either side  of the canal and pumping out the water from the fields. For this, high-performance water pumps of 60 HP and 40 HP were installed along the canal to set up the ‘Pettiyum Parayum,’  the indigenous technology for irrigation in the paddy fields of Kuttanad. A transformer was also installed to supply  power to operate the mechanism using the MLA fund.

Initially, farming will be done in  850 acres  under the joint initiative of the Onattukara development agency, agriculture department, Thazava panchayat and the Haritha Keralam mission.       The water has now been drained to Pallikalar river through the canal so that cultivation can begin. It is proposed to brand the  rice in the near future.  The panchayat is awaiting the convenience of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to inaugurate the project.